Former Israeli president Ephraim Katzir died on Saturday at the age of 93 after a brief illness, public radio reported.
Katzir, a member of the centre-left Labour party, held the largely ceremonial post from 1973 to 1978. In 1977, he welcomed Egyptian president Anwar Sadat on his groundbreaking visit to Israel during peace negotiations.
A native of the Ukraine, he moved to the then British mandate of Palestine in 1925.
He was a biophysicist and one of the founders of the prestigious Haim Weizman Institute in Rehovot. He also headed the science department in the ministry of defence.
Copyright 2009 AFP Global Edition
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